A werewolf named pumpkin

I ran through the forest nose to the wind wet and cold from the kiss of the wind. I leapt through the brush not a leaf stirring at my passage. Only the trees sentries of the forest witnessed my passage. My paws splashed through a creek and I finnally came to a hedge. I crouched in the moonlight and looked up to the sky. I sighed smiled upon sighting the twinkling stars above me. The night was peaceful the cool wind ruffling my white fur. I almost howled with joy but I was getting close to the farmstead, to the people. I rose to my feet and lashed the air with my tail. Turning around I gazed back into the forest through I was certain I was not being pursued. The wolf hunter had long since lost my trail, at least I hoped so. He hadn't caught up to my in weeks. I hoped I was in the clear. Enough thinking about him I shrugged and crouched tensing for a leap. I cleared the hedge and landed behind a large bale of hay. I ran once more through the tall fields of wheat. It was the time of the harvest the time when the spirit of the earth was fresh and bursting with her bounty. It was the time when wolves sing to the stars and feel joy at every moment. The world was so sweet and tender at this time, tender yet bursting with strength. I ran past the barbed wire fences ignoring the mewling of a farm cat as I disturbed its rest., The moon shimmered over the placid surface of a small lake upon when ducks sleepily snoozed. I huffed in amusement as one opened its eye and quaked in panic when it accidentally bumped into one of its fellows.
I bounded through many such farm their gates growing closer together. I could see the blinking lights of the central town in the distance when I crested a ridge top. I paused for a single moment to study the small hub of humanity. I sighed wistfully rising to my full height. I was small and slight for a werewolf but I was a fiery burst of fighting spirit. I grinned remembering the last man who had mocked my height. He  was in a morgue now, according to the rest of humanity a victim of a vicious bear attack. I glanced down at the town picking up the hum of voices and laughter.
Halloween was coming. The Feast of Souls, Samhain. I looked forward to it as well. It was an exalted holiday. If you have never seen a werewolf party you have not lived. Really I pity you. It's not a thing to miss, and a werewolf Halloween was a heck of party. We broke out the moonshine, the steaks, everything you could think of. We shot fireworks, and once trick or treating was over we sought out the houses that left their candy bowls outside. My favorite left over snack was Butterfinger. Really I could eat a bus load of that stuff. I smiled knowing the party of all parties was only a few hours away. I trembled at the thought of the greatest gathering of lycans.
Most of the times we werewolves live either alone or in close knit packs. I was part of a small pack. Kaite was the other female, and there were three boys Kent, Alexander, and Randy. They were my friends and we all lived an old coot named GreyClaw. The old female had lost her mate decades ago yet her body continued to live. She was a mother to us all taking in myself and Kent when we were just pups. Andrew and his brother Randy came years later and finally Kaite had joined us. Kaite had once been a lone wolf but when we rescued her from certain death at the hands of a vicious Werewolf Hunter. To this day she repaid her debt by living with us. I believe the lone wolves have a strong sense of honor, and unbreakable code that keeps them alive in a hostile world. Unfortunately the Werewolf hunter kept his promise too. And he seemed to hate me particularly. We had moved because of him over to Western Hemisphere. I won't tell you where because I don't want him to find us to quickly. Especially not with the party coming up. I shook my head shaking the remising thoughts away I had a mission to do, the party had to be perfect.
Not an hour later I crept up to the old town boundary, a stone wall only three feet high. I crawled, my stomach almost brushing against the waving fronds of grass of the earth. The old boundary now stood for little only encompassing the part of the town which dated back centuries before. It was an old settlement in Canada that much I knew and old trading center between the natives and explorers. An old battlefield lay nearly a mile away in the brush spotted hills. Farmsteads now sprawled outside of the old boundaries the old fear of wolves and wildcats gone with the arrival of better guns and complacency. In a way I was glad for it the loss of wolf fear. There was nothing to be afraid of anyway. Werewolves were not all heartless monsters; we were as human as mortals. Like mortals we chose between good and evil. The latter I believe choose their beastly path because of the promise of power, a promise that comes to taint their weak hearts. Those of true wolf spirit take the curse and make it a gift as it were meant to be. I lay beside the old boundary and looked back over my shoulder at the rolling fields and the forestland beyond. In the deep blackness I could see the faint shadow of mountains to the west. I smiled the land was beautiful. The trees by light showing their brilliant colors, brought out by the warmth of fall. Truly I felt the autumn warmth that runs in my werewolf veins, and the blood of my kin. Slowly regretting the change back into my mortal form I slowly gave up the trill felt by my wolf body. With reluctance I took human form and rose from my hiding place behind the fence.
In human form I am a slight and young female. My body is practically ageless, my blue eyes still as clear as they were the day they first gazed out at the world. I pulled my dark blue jacket around my shoulders savoring the feel of the warm fur lining. With agile almost feral ease I leapt over the fence and trotted through an alley into the hub of the town. Many slumbered now, the time being and hour past moon high. I crept through the streets past apartments, homes, and even a closed shop. The florists flowers whispered softly in their bins outdoors, unattended because of the lack of crime. I could like this village live among it if I chose but my choice was to feel the thrill of the earth through my paws. I may live within humanity for a day by I live my life in the wilds. Finally I came to the center of the city a park surrounded by four squares of cobbled stones. At the center of the field, for the park had few trees a old stone fountain bubbled quietly. From its crown stood a native Canadian dressed in furs and holding his spear proudly staring off almost reverently into a past the rest could not see. How I long for those days to return again for the people to hold the earths hand and sing to her bounty.
The old pickup truck was parked in the west lot. I walked openly towards it. Not a soul moved, and as I came up to the driver's window I understood why. A lycan sat in behind the wheel seat reclined all the way the scent of moonshine on his breath. I rolled my eyes and knocked loudly on the window. The werewolf jolted his human face searching wildly for the disruption. I waved my hand drawing his attention to his own window. He smiled apologetically. The window was rolled down and he waved warmly at me.
"Hey, hey, you here for the goods?" He grinned showing his brilliant white teeth.
I nodded unable to hide my smile. This particular werewolf was so congenial it was hard not to like his boyish behavior. "It's not a problem just make sure you don't drink all the moonshine you can hold before the party."
He chuckled shaking his shaggy blonde hair and jumping out of the car. I stepped back and watched closely as he walked around to the back and uncovered his load, pulling back the tarp with a dramatic flourish. I gazed upon twelve large coolers surrounded by hay in the back of the truck. Besides the fifty pounds of fish, he had barrels of herbs for the cooking, and bone garnish, fresh from the slaughter house. Really did you think all the bones that got ground up went nowhere? Give a dog a bone but give a werewolf bone garnish for salmon. I glanced at him. "That's it."
He laughed almost too loudly and shook his head. "Fifty pounds of salmon do you really think I only brought that much, behold he pulled off the rest of the tarp and I looked at a gigantic stack of bread. Really all the breads one could ask for. Garlic bread, bread rolls, bread buns, cinnamon bread, banana bread, white bread, wheat bread, oat bread, barely bread and at least eight four foot long rolls of French bread. I smiled thinking of all the food we would be dinning on. Really this was only a fraction of the load, I was just in charge of receiving the salmon order with its accompanying load. We had an Italian load, hamburgers load, shrimp load, sushi load, beef, load, taco load, wine load, beer load, pig load, ribs load, and I think we had another Spanish load somewhere in there, oh yes a fajita load. I was almost drooling at the thought of all that food. Oh I'm almost forgetting the pumpkin load! The pumpkins how could I forget? We would have a giant carving contest with half the load then once judged we will cook them all into a series of pies which will be devoured by all. The honor of receiving the pig load or the pumpkin load was the highest of honors. Gore Jhaldoch was receiving the pumpkin load this year. I envied him his duty but I was truly thrilled for him. His prowess in battle and his sincerity of heart were truly desirable.
I was torn from my reverie by the werewolf slapping my back warmly. "Are ye pleased now?" He asked winking.
I grinned excitedly in return. "Of course we'll feast tonight!"
"That we will, be sure to save some for me, kiddo." He winked one final time, tossed me the keys to the truck. He ran off into the night without looking back. I hopped into the seat of the truck. The cockpit smelled like peppermint and tic-tacs. When I sat down I felt a bulge in the seat. I reached behind me and pulled out an empty box for tic-tacs. Smiling I turned the key, and the ignition grumbled to life. I drove the truck out of the town limits the vehicle humming along. I weaved beyond the stone wall boundary and once beyond the street lights I allowed myself to resume my wolf shape. Gripping the wheel with finger pads I yipped a catchy tune as I spun the wheel to spin the car around a corner. Though hampered by the shell of metal surrounding me I could steel feel the hum of the earth outside.  I rolled down the window and stuck my arm out, leaving me to maneuver the car with one paw. I continued to yip as I drove the twenty miles to the camp site. Hidden inside a dell of woodlands I parked the car at a small lot at the end of a hiking trail and putting two fingers to my lips whistled loudly. Instantly a pack of eight wolves emerged from the forest grinning with their tongues hanging out of their mouths. I noted the burly form of Broga a lone wolf whom I called a friend. He clapped my back touching his nose to mine.
"Good to see ya kiddo, nice to see you brought the fish instead of eating them." He chuckled to his friends. Come on boys let's get this grub back to the fire pits." He winked at me. "You better get down there the festivities are already started. I nodded and sprang into the forest running on two legs down the hiking path. I left the path ten minutes later and took to the forests along a trail marked by piles of stones. It was an old werewolf tradition to leave signs of piles stones or twigs to mark a trail, but with pour keen scents it was for traditions sake. I bounded along the trail and eventually came to two werewolves standing in old ceremonial garb. They crossed their old bone tipped spears before the path barring my passage. They spoke at the same time addressing me with the ancient greeting.
"Who are you who comes to the Feast of the Harvest?!"
I stood up tall and straight staring them in the eyes my silver white fur shinning in the moonlight as I stepped into its light. "I am a child of the forest, a moon daughter of wolves. I come to the feast to join in song and praise of the earth with the rest of my brothers and sisters."
The wolf guards nodded and disengaging their spears let me pass. One tapped my shoulder as I passed. "You better check out the wrestling tonight, I've heard there are quite a selection of matured males."
I recognized beneath the visor like headdress the face of Kent. I slapped him playfully. "Oh shut up Kent your just jealous."
"Hey I've already seen the dancing circles, quite a good gathering of females." I laughed and so did he.
"No really check out the legends circle, Old MoonFang is there." I nodded understanding the significance of MoonFang one of the oldest historians alive. Truly he would be telling the legends of our people this night by the firelight. As I neared the valley I caught the wafting smells of cooking food and cooking breads. I heard the singing of the females as they danced in a  circle of stone sin an ancient ceremony in honor of the Moon Daughter child of the sky. I heard the laughter of the pups at play, and the voices of the elders recalling the ancient festival of the Harvest. I heard the boasting of the wrestlers, as they played their games. With light steps I entered the party and joined in the song of the Moon Children, danced with the females, listened to the elders stories, and watched the males at wrestling. Little did I know that there was a danger at my back.
The bronze furred male sat down beside me handing me a mug of moonshine. The wide mouthed ale jacks allowed us to sip our drinks with ease. I lapped at my drink looking into his eyes. Truly Ethan had grown into a fine young male. It seemed his years as a lone wolf had granted him maturity and knowledge. He stared at me calmly with a thought that had not been in his eyes previously when we had been together. I lowered my glass staring back.
"So you have been well?" He asked cautiously. I smiled touching his arm. He still had that tenderness to him that I loved. He smiled back at my touch and raised his paw to stroke my long mane. My whit locks slid through his fingers.
"I've missed you." He whispered.
I froze struck by the love in his voice. True I had loved him in the past but he had not been ready, could it be that now he was prepared to take on the loyalty demanded of a mated pair. I shook the thought away, we were not a mated pair simply two young wolves in love. I swallowed the nervousness in my throat. "I have missed you as well." He waited quietly for me to continue, when I didn't he spoke softly as the party pulsed around us.
"I thought to you often." He whispered. "I lived in the wilds and the earth himself taught me what I lacked before."
"And what was that?" I asked before I could think. "I mean what was it like, being a lone wolf."
He smiled. "That is right; you have never been a lone wolf. I am glad; the loneliness at first is agonizing. But you learn to look within after the first few months. Sometimes it takes male years to grow into a wolf truly deserving of being an alpha."
I looked at him quizzically. "And are you that? Are you an alpha?" It was two questions at the same time. I wondered if he were truly a man or if he were saying that he was paired with another female and a part of an alpha pair, starting his own pack, a life without me.
He smiled reassuringly at me. "I believe I am my own alpha. I have learned that a man's true strength is his strength here.." He tapped his chest. I laughed moonshine shinning in the moonlight on my nose.
His brow furrowed. "What? I know it's cheesy but really the strength of the soul is far more powerful than that of the arm. Not that I am lacking."
It's not that." I laughed. "It's not that at all. It's just… I really like that about you, I mean I really do. You're… really sweet."
He paused then slowly with clam sureness he kissed me. Not like that gnawing off your face kind of kiss that I've seen posted online, but that sweet kiss where the front of the lips touches and noses press together. It seemed like all my dreams were coming true, that this night where my childhood friend answered for unspoken years of longing with a single conversation. He leaned back and smiled. "To the moon." He raised his glass to the sky above. I raised mine as well. "To the moon." I replied.
A spatter of gunfire erupted from the trees behind us. "To the moon!" A dangerous voice bellowed. "I'll send you foul beasts to the moon!"
I spun around a howl of rage rising in my throat. The wolf hunter hadn't been hunting me, he'd been tracking me! I watched in horror as he walked from the trees guns drawn a silver vined blade at his side. Wolves from around the clearing howled in rage. Glasses were thrown down and fangs were barred. I cursed my decision to sit so close to the woods. I felt shame that I should try to hide from the forests embrace. The man's action seemed suicidal walking armed into a glade of werewolves all in wolf form and strong from the strength given them by the power of the earth. I looked at his face as he emerged from shadow dragging a hulk of fur behind him. I whimpered in pain as I saw Kent's bloody body limp and moaning with pain. He had been shot with silver, his body was twitching, dying before my very eyes. I glared at the hunters face.
"Stay away this one is mine!" I roared feeling the beasts strength surge through me in a wild burst of feral power. I opened my jaws and let forth a roar powerful enough to cause the very air to tremble. The werewolf hunter didn't twitch at all. I saw his face unkempt and dirty from weeks without bathing. I could smell the reek of tobacco on his skin, and the stains on his clothes. I could see the wild look of madness in his eyes as he faced me. He raised one gun and pointed it directly at me.
"It ends here daemon, I will send you to the fires of hell!"
I shook my head. "Quit your chatter and let's get this on!" I leapt forward a blur of white. Behind my Ethan cried out in fear upon seeing me throw myself into the path of the wolf hunter. I fell upon the man in a fury of fur, claws and fangs. Little was I prepared for the surprise that awaited me. Beneath me I felt the man's shape contort and snap. I leapt back watching in shock as he took on the form a night black werewolf. I grinned seeing the bestial rage surging within him. "Pity, you have become the one thing you hunt."
He pointed one black claw at me dropping the twitching form of Kent to the ground. "Because of you, you spawn of hell!"  This time he came at me with such swiftness I was taken entirely by surprise. His claws sank into my shoulders and I felt their pain as he shoved me backwards. Like a storm of fur, black and white tumbled through the party. Hoots of encouragement followed each swipe of my claws and each lung of my jaws. Within second the ground was covered in blood from both of us. At one point he hand me pinned to the ground and reared his head for the killing strike. I slashed up at his face snarling in denial. I had stepped backwards to far and he had overtaken me throwing my to the ground. Already I could heard the cries from Ethan and my pack coming to my aid. I thrashed beneath him as he sank his claws into me searching for my heart. I slashed at his face and in his maniacal rage he didn't block my attack. I tore his face and slashed ta his throat. Blood poured out of the gaping wound but still his fingers sought my death. I howled in anger realizing my blows had not been enough to halt the death that he sought from me. His black paws wrapped their thick fingers around my neck and began to squeeze. I panicked then and threw my arms out wide. I grabbed the first thing I could sink my claws into. Without further ado I slammed a giant pumpkin onto the werewolf hunters head.
In the absolute chaos that followed I managed to scramble out from underneath the giant beast as he struggled to acquaint himself with his new head. I scrambled out from underneath him seeking to run back to the arms of my pack. The fight had gotten ugly now the giant black werewolf behind me thrashing and clawing at the orangeness encasing his head.
"Curse you mongrel!" he yowled dragging his giant claws over the tough hide of the pumpkin. I didn't look back so I didn't see his last attack. I felt a giant paw close over my ankle and pull me back towards the beast. It seemed e would not die, no matter what I did to him. I struggled and kicked some more but found no release. Finally I turned around ready to claw myself free if need be. I looked at the pumpkin head and could barely keep from howling in fear. Parts of the pumpkin had been clawed away so that the glowing red eyes of my enemy could glare at me from behind the orange flesh of the poor innocent fruit. Really sorry if you're offended by pumpkin murder, but it was me or the fruit. I growled readying to strike but in his last death throes the hunter threw me through the air. I howled in surprise, as I flew straight towards a mountain of orange!
I came to second later. I felt paws pulling me out of my orange cocoon. I felt the soft clammy flesh of pumpkins all around me. Really I think I have a pumpkin fear now. When I managed to clear to orange goop from my eyes I found myself sitting in a pile of pumpkin many of them smashed by my impact. I spat pumpkin slime out of my mouth, really it isn't as good as it is in pie form. I glanced at the faces around me the lupine mouths all in smiles. Ethan smiled at me handing me another jack of moonshine. I smiled toasting those around me. Even now my wounds were healing. My pack was around me, the feast would still go on. I hadn't smashed all the pumpkins so we could still carve the rest.
"Hey, this one's got initiative, I thought I told Keno to start making the pies. A portly werewolf sauntered over rubbing his paws on his apron. I grinned taking a lick of moonshine.
The party commenced with even more gusto. Nothing like good fight got the blood pumping. Kent turned out to be just fine. The bullet was a low grade silver just enough the cause him pain. I smiled as I sat on my chair of smashed fruit. It was a night to remember.
And that dear reader is how I got my name Pumpkin the Werewolf.